Cars most like to be involved in a crash on UK roads

The cars most likely to be in an accident on UK roads have been revealed – and it doesn’t make good reading for taxi firms and Uber drivers.

That’s because the Toyota Prius – a favourite of minicab companies – has been named the most crash-happy model on the road by a Go Compare study, which claims that 111 in every 10,000 are involved in a shunt each year.

Using government road traffic accident data, it found the most accident-prone motors is headed by a mix of premium BMWs and and cheap small French models from the late 1990s that are commonly used by new drivers.

Crash-happy cars: The Toyota Prius has the highest accident rates of any model, based on government data for 2016

The comparison website crunched the government’s numbers regarding vehicle accidents from 2016 to calculate which cars are most likely to be involved in a crash.

The list consists of 30 models you might want to avoid – or at least given as much space as possible – when you encounter them on your journeys.

The Toyota Prius topped the table as the model most frequently involved in accidents.

In 2016, 71,005 of these eco-friendly vehicles were registered in the UK and 787 were involved in shunts, according to the comparison website.

Proportionally that works out as 111 accident-prone Prius in every 10,000 examples on the road.

While many are driven by private owners, they are often used as Ubers and taxis – especially in big cities – which suggests they might not be the safest means of getting around town.

Most crashed car models based on accident rates in 2016

1. Toyota Prius – 111 in 10,000 crashed

2. Citroen Saxo – 106 in 10,000 crashed

3. BMW 330D – 102 in 10,000 crashed

4. BMW 530D – 85 in 10,000 crashed

5. Peugeot 106 – 84 in 10,000 crashed

6. Peugeot 306 – 76 in 10,000 crashed

7. Citroen Berlingo – 75 in 10,000 crashed

8. Volkswagen Bora – 74 in 10,000 crashed

=9. Peugeot 206 – 74 in 10,000 crashed

=9. VW Sharan – 74 in 10,000 crashed

11. Fiat Punto – 73 in 10,000 crashed

=12. Audi S3 – 72 in 10,000 crashed

=12. Hyundai Coupe – 72 in 10,000 crashed

=14. Vauxhall Vectra – 70 in 10,000 crashed

=14. Citroen C2 – 70 in 10,000 crashed

16. BMW 318 – 69 in 10,000 crashed

17. Vauxhall Astra – 68 in 10,000 crashed

18. Renault Clio – 67 in 10,000 crashed

=19. Seat Leon – 66 in 10,000 crashed

=19. Vauxhall Corsa – 66 in 10,000 crashed

21. Seat Ibiza – 65 in 10,000 crashed

=22. Ford Galaxy – 64 in 10,000 crashed

=22. Chevrolet Matiz – 64 in 10,000 crashed

=22. Peugeot 307 – 64 in 10,000 crashed

=22. BMW 116i – 64 in 10,000 crashed

=22. Rover 25 – 64 in 10,000 crashed

=27. BMW 318i – 63 in 10,000 crashed

=27. BMW 320 – 63 in 10,000 crashed

=27. Toyota Celica – 63 in 10,000 crashed

30. Vauxhall Zafira – 62 in 10,000 crashed

Source: GoCompare using Gov.uk data

The Citroen Saxo is the model second most likely to be in an accident, says the comparison site. Around 17,000 remain on the road today

According to the data, 102 in every 10,000 BMW 330D models was involved in an accident in 2016

Second in the list is the Citroen Saxo – a model that went out of production 15 years ago.

Plenty remain on the road today – around 16,000, according to howmanyleft.co.uk – and most are commonly driven by young, cash-strapped, drivers.

GoCompare said 106 in every 10,000 were involved in accidents last year, making it the second most crashed car per examples on the road in 2016.

It was followed by the BMW 330D and 530D – both of which are far more common and driven by motorists with enough money to run premium vehicles – with 102 and 85 crashes per 10,000 examples of each.

The top five was completed by the Peugeot 106. Like the Citroen Saxo it’s been out of production for over 15 years, though around 20,000 are still in use at the moment.

According to the government data, 84 in every 10,000 were crashed in 2016.

Some 85 in every 10,000 BMW 530Ds were involved in crashes in 2016, Gov.uk figures showed

The Peugeot 106, though a not quite as commonly seen on UK roads today, was listed as the second most crashed model based on the number of examples still being driven

GoCompare’s study concluded that accident rates associated with vehicle makes and models appeared not to be playing a big part when insurers came to calculating premium costs.

‘Building up a good driving record and no claims discount in a smaller car means paying less if you do want to move on to bigger, faster cars later.

‘Cars with larger engines will fall in to a higher insurance group, as they’re more powerful and therefore seen as riskier on the road.

‘It’s also worth noting that even if you purchase a high group rated vehicle for very little money, it’s still deemed a high risk and potentially not as safe on the road due to its age, therefore carrying a higher premium.’

The study also calculated which brands of vehicles are most likely to be involved in an accident, using the same government data set from 2016.

Vauxhall was determined to be the brand most likely to be crashed by drivers, followed by the now-defunct Daewoo and Seat. Mitsubishi and Renault rounded out the top five.